Arenas - new opening

Saturday I visited the new shopping centre Arenas, along with what seemed liked the rest of Barcelona. It seemed like everybody wanted to visit this special new shopping opportunity inside a former bull fighter areana. Therefore, it was very difficult to actually be able to move inside the centre and visit the shops there. Further more, it was a bit confusing to get around; I visited the first and second floor, then I found out that I couldn't reach the 3rd floor from the second floor, but I had to go down again to the first floor to take some stairs. But at in the first floor I found a huge line and a security guard letting people in little by little to the 3rd floor. Since I at that point did not have any more patience, I decided to drop the 3rd floor.



Nevertheless, I was able to get an overview of the stores in side of the centre and honestly I was not very impressed. There are no Inditex shops in the centre nor any H&M - stores I normally would visit. Here are some of the shops you can find: Mango, Blanco, Punt Romà, Miss Sixty, Casas, Trucco, +D Conti, Calzedonia, Swarovski, Base, Desigual, Piquadro, Tous o Calvin Klein - none of which I would go specially to this centre to shop in.


What I did like about the centre was the view from the top. Since it was impossible to get around inside the centre, I climbed an outdoor staircase to the roof. From there you have a beautiful view to Parc Miró and Plaza Espanya. I came at night when all the lights were on and while they were doing the Magic fountains - which meant I had a spectacular view to see the show.
Currently there is only one restaurant open on the roof but it seems like more (including Mussol) will be opening soon. I can imagine that it could be very nice having dinner on the terrace roof top during summers..
On the floor just under the roof, they have opened a Metropolitan fitness centre with a running slope around the building - that must be a funny jogging round to do..

All in all, the building is very impressive as are the views from the top, nevertheless, I am not impressed with the selection of shops in centre.

New shopping centre in bull fighter arena

Today is the official opening of the new shopping centre "Arenas". This shopping centre is quite special as it has been built inside of a former bull fighter arena - this is apparently the first of its kind in the world. It is located in Plaza España, often the first stop in Barcelona when you take the bus from the airport
This construction has been going on for a long time (as far as I remember over six years) but today it is finally oficially opening for and tomorrow at 10:00 it will be opening for the average public.
The shopping centre contains 6 floors and will include many different shops, supermarkets, cinemas, a Rock Museum a its own metro station. Will definitely visit this weekend and report back!


This picture was taken yesterday, it looked like they still had things to finish up...

New Shana store on Psg. de Gracia

I mentioned the other day that to my knowledge the only other Shana store apart from the one on Portal d'Angel was the new store they opened in Maremagnum.
Nevertheless, this weekend I accidental stumbled upon another Shana store on Passeig de Gracia 91. I believe it just opened this Monday (the 28th of March).
I have also read that next to the Shana store, a new Loewe store will be opened soon.


I have also recently found out that Shana is actually a Catalan store (headquarters based outside of Barcelona) from the company Comdipunt who also owns the Friday's project stores (the new Shana store has actually taken over the store where Friday's project were before). Shana is growing rapidly; only in the last nine months they have opened 70 stores (all franchises) and they plan on reaching 100 stores before the end of this year.
Rumours says that they are looking to expand internationally and they are negotiating franchise deals with China, Mexico, Portugal and the Middle East.

Shopping in Primark (again...)

I also visited Primark in Diagonal Mar last week. Even though it can be a stressful experience shopping in Primark on a Saturday afternoon, I still manage to come out of the store with a bag full of clothes. This Saturday they had a lot of things on sales, and since it very cheap before sales you can really get a lot of stuff for nearly no money.



I got a couple of cardigans for 8€ piece.



Then I made some really great bargains with these things that were on sale. I found two basic turtle-necks (one in black and one with stripes) for 2€ a piece and a Wonder Woman t-shirt for € (reduced from 10€)

New store openings in Maremagnum

Last Sunday I visited Maremagnum for the first time in a while. Maremagnum, is a shopping centre by Barcelona harbour, which is open almost everyday of the year which is great if you feel like shopping on Sundays.

To my surprise I saw that they had opened some new stores in the centre.


Firstly, the have opened a new Blanco store, which was small but nice. They even had many things on sale still.


Secondly, I discovered that they have opened a Shana store, which to my knowledge is the second store in Barcelona (the other bigger Shana store you will find in Portal d'Angel).
Shana is from the same group as Friday's Project, but low-cost. You will find prices on the lines of Primark - very affordable clothing...
The store in Maremagnum is small, nevertheless they got some things especially economical basics.

Bargains from Mango outlet

I visited Mango outlet the other day (in C/ Girona 37) and found a couple of nice thing to very economical prices. The reason is that they are "taras" meaning clothes with small errors. Nevertheless, the errors are pointed out with a small sticker and if the error is small or almost not visible, for me it really doesn't matter. Further more, the clothes were on sale.


Jeans skirt that goes under the knee, before 35€ now reduced to 4€.


Stretch jeans dress, reduced to 6€. Dress from the front.


The dress from the back.

French macaroons at Mac Donalds!!

Remember the seen in SATS 2 in the dessert where the girls are eating deliciously looking colorful macaroons? These little melt-in-your-mouth beauties are along with the cookie and the decorated muffins in the top of the "cookie fashion world". They are as tasty as they are lovely and would pride any fashionistas coffee table!!

Now, the French macaroon are available at McCafes in France. Apparently, the French aren’t happy about it. I can see why this ad (and the idea in general) might have them crying foul. 

So the high end macroon has hit the higth streets - I don´t really apply to this as it takes a lot away from the "essence" - taking them away from the small quite stores and putting in Mac surroundings could kill the essence of everything. I would still buy mine in the small stores - and willingly pay a little more...!

Enjoy!!

Shoe shopping in Bimba & Lola

Sadly the rebajas/sales are ending today, but I am happy to say that I found some nice bargains even in the end of the sales.

Last week I went to Bimba & Lola , a very nice Spanish shop, especially their accessories are worth looking out for, but normally a bit too pricey for my economy. Nevertheless, with the sales I bought two pair of shoes.

This pair of flat shoes in blue and brown were on sale from 92€ to 36€.



These black suede pumps were on sale from 98€ to 29€.